From Hank Farnham, Precinct 11

Friday

Jul 8, 2011 at 2:00 AM

I hope you all enjoyed the Fourth of July, Independence Day celebrations. Gretchen and I and our granddaughters participated in the BWB parade in the morning and games afterward. In the afternoon, we cruised down Main Street in the Hyannis parade.

Hank Farnham

I hope you all enjoyed the Fourth of July, Independence Day celebrations. Gretchen and I and our granddaughters participated in the BWB parade in the morning and games afterward. In the afternoon, we cruised down Main Street in the Hyannis parade. It was a trip seeing so many happy people, especially all the kids. Both of those events produced the biggest crowds that I can remember. The various Fourth of July committees and town staff involved are to be congratulated for the wonderful job they do making these special events such memorable occasions for all of us. And just two weeks earlier, we had the largest Father’s Day car show ever on Main Street - awesome!

I understand that you want to know what is going on in Barnstable. I will use this column to briefly comment on the town council’s negotiated settlement with the town manager, John Klimm. I’ll also present a summary of some key issues that transpired causing a rift between some councilors. We are restricted in what we can say about contract negotiations with the town manager. His attorney has instructed us to direct any communications about that directly to him.

I am confident in stating that Barnstable remains a wonderful town with terrific staff and a good financial foundation at this time. It has remained so through most of the 50 years that I have lived here. There have been occasional glitches along the way where emergency funding or staff cuts were necessary to cover school shortfalls or unexpected reductions in state support. Fortunately, state financial support is a small part of Barnstable’s budget, so cuts there are not as significant as for many other communities.

I have heard some comments that the town council appears to be dysfunctional at times now. The fact is, the council usually acts on matters before us with unanimous or strong majority votes. There have been occasions when we have had votes of 7–6 on an item. Usually those split votes are based on differing opinions regarding fiscal issues or community need. I find myself in the minority position - part of the six conservative voters, who believe that our first obligation is looking out for the taxpayers.

I’ll offer, from my perspective, some of the significant milestones that have occurred which have impacted how the council operates resulting in those occasional 7–6 votes. I keep hearing that politics and partisanship seem to be impacting how we act. The fact is, partisanship came to the forefront almost five years ago after the change in council leadership. Since then, there has been an undercurrent of partisan politics that does enter some of our deliberations, and has caused the creation of ideological sides. That is unfortunate and counterproductive when it occurs.

The next significant milestone seems to have been caused by the DCPC process for the Craigville Beach area. Some councilors wanted to take control of the town’s planning away from the town, and place it in the hands of the regional regulatory authority - the Cape Cod Commission. Others of us wanted the town to retain that control. As a result, we took the draft DCPC ordinance and offered it up as a town-wide zoning ordinance. Our plan would accomplish the same result, except that Barnstable Town, not Barnstable County would have control of our zoning. The DCPC proponents argued that they didn’t trust future town leaders to do an adequate job controlling the zoning there and insisted on county control. That drove the wedge a little deeper between the two sides.

The next thing that fanned the flames revolved around the council elections for president and vice president last December. The slate that was presented included a candidate that the six could not rally behind. It also included a candidate whom the seven would not support. It became apparent that the seven were going to support their candidate regardless of opposition, so the six of us individually offered each other as alternative candidates to see if any of us were acceptable to them. We weren’t, so the message was clear and we have what we have.

Next on the agenda of dividing issues was the abrupt “resignation” of the town council administrator, Donald Grissom. There are differing stories circulating about what happened, how it happened and who was involved in his departure. However, most of us don’t know the real facts behind the event, nor were we afforded an opportunity for participation in what ultimately happened. In the spirit of transparency and open government, the six of us wanted to find out what transpired. One councilor made a formal request for an investigation - to learn the facts and see if any follow-up action was warranted, not a witch hunt as some have alleged. The seven rallied and stonewalled the requested investigation. Another councilor subsequently followed up with a formal request for an inquiry - a separate function afforded the council, but the seven stonewalled that attempt as well. I am still bothered that seven of my colleagues find cronyism to be more important than doing the right thing and clearing the air for the public – transparency, my foot.

The latest issue that is troubling is that some of our council colleagues are working to find candidates to run against the six of us. We have worked hard to represent your interests, preserve your hard-earned tax dollars and seek accountability when necessary. The job of being a council representative should not be a popularity contest or a rubber stamp. If that trend continues, I fear for the future of our town. The councilors need to work together in a bipartisan effort, and we need to be respectful with one another - all the time. Hopefully with new leadership, that will improve.

Some of you know from my prior articles that I am a firm believer in term limits at all levels of our elected governments. I also believe that goes for CEOs (in government and even many corporate settings). That is one of the reasons I want to see new leadership in the town’s administration.

I want to again mention capital needs within Barnstable since this is an area that is so important to me and to many of you. There are over $250,000,000 in capital projects on the town’s CIP wish list. The town manager typically will seek $6,000,000 to $8,000,000 in annual funding for CIP work. The town’s aging historic structures have caused a big backlog of projects needing funding in order to preserve them. I have suggested before that the CPA committee focus on funding the town’s historic structures and keep open space acquisitions at the minimum level. Such an effort will help us catch up on some of the deferred maintenance. Incidentally, on the next council agenda, there is an item from the town manager for us to approve funding a $1,700,000 acquisition of a home on Hyannis Harbor for a future mini-marina. Given what I said above, does that request make sense? You’ll find out where the allegiance is on the council when it comes to a vote on that item next week.

I’ll conclude and say again that we all are anxious to see the remaining renovations to the West Barnstable municipal complex completed soon. The Community Building still needs interior painting and refinishing of the floors. Due to the heavy use of the building by many groups and the popular Luke’s Love Playground, additional parking and revised landscaping is needed. The DPW drew up a plan for simple improvements to the site for OKH approval. The town manager has said he has funding available, so that work should occur before the WB Village Festival next month.